Tuscany is a place full of sleepy and pretty little towns that one could easily pass by without a second glance but which contain rich histories and unexpected surprises. Look more closely and you will be astounded by what you might see if you have found a vacation rental in Tuscany and are exploring the region. One such town, that you could easily miss and think nothing more of, is Pieve Santo Stefano, which is located between Florence and Arezzo and has a population of just over 3,000 people. Pretty and very typically Tuscan in appearance, you would think nothing unusual of it at first glance. However, there is much more to this fascinating town than first meets the eye. Back on August 5th, 1944, a year after Mussolini fell from power and the Nazis took control of Italy, the townspeople of Pieve Santo Stefano were abruptly awoken and marched north on pains of death with whatever they could bring with them while the town was completely destroyed. Bar a church in the centre of town, the rest was rubble. It was rebuilt but, if you look closely, you will see concrete in place of cobblestones and Renaissance gems replaced by modern facades.
Then came Saverio Tutino, a former member of the Italian Resistance and journalist who had explored the globe and found himself in town for an art exhibition in 1984. He had had the idea of instituting a place to house and elevate the stories of normal Italians, something he felt was lacking in the country’s rich story-telling heritage, and thought Pieve Santo Stefano, this town haunted so heavily by the past, a perfect place for a, “House of Memory.” And, so, the town became famous for a different reason as home to the Archivio Diaristico Nazionale, the National Diary Archive, and came to be known as the Città del Diario, the City of Diaries.
Then came Saverio Tutino, a former member of the Italian Resistance and journalist who had explored the globe and found himself in town for an art exhibition in 1984. He had had the idea of instituting a place to house and elevate the stories of normal Italians, something he felt was lacking in the country’s rich story-telling heritage, and thought Pieve Santo Stefano, this town haunted so heavily by the past, a perfect place for a, “House of Memory.” And, so, the town became famous for a different reason as home to the Archivio Diaristico Nazionale, the National Diary Archive, and came to be known as the Città del Diario, the City of Diaries.
Upon the foundation of the archive there was also the announcement of the Premio Pieve, or the Pieve Prize, a cash prize of about 1,000 euros, or $1,332, for the best diary, memoir, or epistolary collection submitted each year, as voted by a rotating panel of Italian literary critics. Quickly, there were submissions from all over Italy and they continue to arrive today. There are now more than 8,000 diaries in the archive and around 200 new works arrive each year, in the form of letters, memoirs, autobiographies, scribbled accounts, and more on scraps of paper, handwritten in journals, and typed out. The majority are from the 20th century though there are examples dating back to the 18th century and contemporaneous ones that continue to arrive. Coming from all over the country and people from all sorts of backgrounds, they paint a fascinating, and rather full, picture of Italian life.
In addition to the archive there is also a museum today, the Piccolo Museo del Diario, or Little Museum of Diaries, which was opened in 2013. It exhibits some of the most interesting and special pieces from the collection. It is rather small, with just four little rooms to explore, but is quite special. One of the main focal points is the wall of wooden drawers in which each section contains a diary or piece of written correspondence that plays as a pre-recorded voiceover when a drawer is opened and the most iconic item that is physically on display is The Bedsheet. This Bedsheet is displayed in a glass case and is covered in the writings of a semi-literate 72-year-old peasant named Clelia Marchi who was trying to process the loss of her husband and decided to record her life story on the symbol of their union: their matrimonial bedsheet.
In addition to the archive there is also a museum today, the Piccolo Museo del Diario, or Little Museum of Diaries, which was opened in 2013. It exhibits some of the most interesting and special pieces from the collection. It is rather small, with just four little rooms to explore, but is quite special. One of the main focal points is the wall of wooden drawers in which each section contains a diary or piece of written correspondence that plays as a pre-recorded voiceover when a drawer is opened and the most iconic item that is physically on display is The Bedsheet. This Bedsheet is displayed in a glass case and is covered in the writings of a semi-literate 72-year-old peasant named Clelia Marchi who was trying to process the loss of her husband and decided to record her life story on the symbol of their union: their matrimonial bedsheet.
A rather special, warm, and very human museum, this intimate little gem is a must-see for those who have found a vacation rental in Arezzo and are looking to explore the more unique delights of this part of Tuscany.
Piccolo museo del diario
Palazzo Pretorio, Piazza Plinio Pellegrini, 1
52036 Pieve Santo Stefano AR
0575 797734 – 797730
piccolomuseo@archiviodiari.it
Opening Hours:
Monday to Friday, from 9.30am to 12.30pm and from 3pm to 6pm.
Saturday, Sunday and public holidays from 3pm to 6pm.
Closed on the 1st and 6th of January, Easter Sunday, and the 25th and the 26th of December.
Piccolo museo del diario
Palazzo Pretorio, Piazza Plinio Pellegrini, 1
52036 Pieve Santo Stefano AR
0575 797734 – 797730
piccolomuseo@archiviodiari.it
Opening Hours:
Monday to Friday, from 9.30am to 12.30pm and from 3pm to 6pm.
Saturday, Sunday and public holidays from 3pm to 6pm.
Closed on the 1st and 6th of January, Easter Sunday, and the 25th and the 26th of December.
